Anyways, ever watched ‘Earth Maiden Arjuna’ (a.k.a. ‘Earth Girl Arjuna’ or ‘Chikyu Shojo Arjuna’) by Shoji Kawamori? Well, HAVE YOU?

Now if you’re thinking “no”…than you might just want to give it a try.

Yes, unlike some of the other Anime and J-dramas though, I’m not going to attempt force-feeding this particular one onto you people if you REALLY don’t want to watch it. Why? Because it’s basically one of those ‘you either love-it-to-death or hate-it-to-death’ kinds of Anime; that and it’s insanely ‘in your face’.

Hmm…seen Hayao Miyazaki’s ‘Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind’? Well ‘Earth Maiden Arjuna’ (Arjuna) shares quite a ton of similarities with it, and yet, there are just as many differences between the two. Oh yeah, probably with James Cameron’s ‘AVATAR’ too.

Honestly, I’d be in for a rough time if someone told me I had to pin a specific genre to Arjuna. It’s just…in an entirely different category all on its own to me; the series is almost unlike any other Anime I think I’ve ever seen and I definitely, DEFINITELY recommend everyone out there to watch it.

Basic synopsis courtesy of Wikipedia (to an extent) there for you. Does it arouse interest enough for anyone to go and watch it? I don’t know. I can’t say. After all, I first stumbled across this Anime some two years ago, one night when I had trouble sleeping, went downstairs and turned on the telly. What channel did I flip to? Animax (duh!), and this (Arjuna) was on. Lucky me too – first episode.

That episode alone got me interested enough and I curiously stuck around (never mind my sleeping problems) for episode two. Sadly, that’s where that encounter ended because I can’t remember episode three ever airing on Animax. Maybe I missed it or something (though I distinctly remember scrolling through the channel guides like crazy…). Nonetheless, I remembered this series…and so here I am now, finally having found somewhere I could watch it online and got to the end.

And what do I have to say now that I’ve seen the whole thing? Summing it up, that would be “wow…”. Now I don’t think Arjuna’s the greatest, most amazing Anime I’ve ever watched or anything (lots of problems with it) but there is no denying it is pretty good (e.g. epic CG Animation and beautiful soundtrack); though maybe not in the way Anime like Naruto or Shugo Chara are.

This is undeniably…different (I cannot stress that enough).

Arjuna mainly (you bet there are other stuff in there besides this) addresses the idea of our dying planet (and other things that more or less relate to it in some way): pollution, the natural cycle/circle of life, processed food, etc. It is pretty hard for me to explain in words but…there’s a connection there…and that connection being the crucial message Kawamori is probably trying to stuff down the throats of everyone who watches it.

The intriguing bit though is the way in which he tries to deliver this message across to everyone throughout the Anime. I mean, the big question is there, he keeps jabbing it in our faces almost every episode…but the answer remains as vague, and yet, as clear…every single time! (though odds are most people might not see it till they’ve been full-circle – watched till the end).

Okay, the thing is it’s all so confusing, yet so crystal-clear-right-under-our-noses at the same time! As far as I’m concerned, Kawamori did one heck of an excellent job making his audience ‘think’…REALLY ‘think’.

***Hangs SPOILER alert up***

Because I’m going to rant on my revelations in watching this…

Personally, I think there’s a lot of reading in-between the lines one has to do in watching this Anime. It was pretty hard to get for me and I really had to re-watch quite a number of parts over and over to form the conclusions I have in my head now. For the record, I’m convinced they’re pretty obvious, but the way in which they were presented seriously makes me feel at awe. It’s really amazing.

For starters, I was really impressed with the portrayal of character Chris. Like Juna, he wields the same power (can go into ‘Earth Sympathy’ mode – that’s what I like to call it). Nevertheless, unlike her and pretty much every other character in the series, Chris’ personality and actions…made him seem like some higher, otherworldly being or entity; but I guess that was the idea all along. It was…how we were meant to see him? As in, maybe Kawamori intended for his audience in general to sort of…view Chris’ character that way…or so I think.

I mean, when I thought about it, Chris couldn’t speak verbally but through telepathy (not every character can hear him in the series though – watch it and you’ll understand better), was sick and crippled, and was so very unnaturally kind and patient (emphasized MANY times throughout the series).

What am I getting at? Well, the theme here IS our DYING PLANET. Got it? Honestly, I’m only assuming this but it just fits so well...

Chris REPRESENTS the planet!

Whether we like it or not people, our planet IS dying thanks to pollution and etc. Earth has a voice, it’s pleading for us to stop hurting it but hey, guess what, WE’RE NOT LISTENING! (turned on air-conditioning today? Drove somewhere? Yeah, that’s what I mean). That’s why Chris remains on the brink of death throughout the whole show. It’s probably also why only Juna and Cindy can hear his telepathic voice because they’re the ones who are choosing to do something about the planet.

Of course, Chris isn’t the only character in Arjuna who represents something (though the way I see it he definitely represents the most significant entity, that entity being Planet Earth). For example, both Juna and Tokio (who are practically the two main leads of the entire series) possibly represent two different kinds of audience – Juna being the one who wants to do something about Earth dying but not knowing ‘what’ to do or ‘how’ to do it, while Tokio seems the general type who thinks there’s nothing anyone can do.

Bleh, so pushing the representations aside, I need to get what I really gained from this Anime out here before I go crazy for not having anyone to tell it to. Basically, it has to do with Juna always trying to ‘become one with the target’. Ah, and then we have Chris saying that he ‘is’ the Raaja and that the Raaja ‘is’ him in the final episode. Basically:

“The earth and its inhabitants are the same. We are one. If we damage the Earth, we are harming ourselves…so, take care of it.” [Quoted from Youtube]

Somebody wrote it there and I just thought the way this person said it made it easier for others to understand. Plain, straightforward, obvious…but effortlessly true. I’d say more about this but that could touch upon religion so…I really don’t want to go there. Still, in hurting Earth, we really are hurting ourselves. Think about it, kay?

***Removes SPOILER alert…sighs…***

You know, I’m not even going to lie. This series brings up a bunch of…disturbing (somewhat) issues. Still, the discomfort one feels in watching them being addressed here does sort of prove their validity, don’t you think? It did for me. Arjuna questions the choices we all make in our daily lives, our sacrificing the environment for convenience. Don’t be daft, we all do it! We’re ALL guilty! And yet Arjuna doesn’t literally point fingers but simply asks us “Is it worth it?” (2012 is two years away people!).

So everyone, is it?

PS :: Just try eating McD after watching this...hehe~ XP